1. Arlington's The Real Sportstown, USA
Not only is Arlington the home to the MLB Texas Rangers and the NFL Dallas Cowboys, but it's central location and good weather (and not to mention its winning teams) have allowed it to host more than its share of championship games. In fact, in one year, Arlington hosted the 2010 NBA All Star Game, games 3, 4 and 5 of the 2010 World Series, and Super Bowl XLV.
2. Arlington Entrepreneur Envisions A World With No Bare Feet
Blake Mycoskie, who was Arlington born and raised, went on to found the world's most altruistic shoe company. Anytime someone buys a pair of TOMS shoes, a child in need is provided with a free pair.
3. Margarita Slushies…. Yeah, You Can Thank Arlington For Them, Too
Another true story, backed up by no lesser authority than the Smithsonian itself. While frozen margaritas existed before the ’70s, it was kind of hard for a bartender armed with a blender to churn them out en masse. Mariano Martinez, owner of Mariano's Mexican Cuisine, had a divine revelation at his local 7-11 one morning, and shortly thereafter invented a machine capable of creating tangy tequila slurpees. The rest is (mostly forgotten) history.
4. Folks In Arlington Never Miss A Chance To Celebrate
There's always something to celebrate here, and the weather's usually pretty great. In addition to April's and October's food truck festivals, there's also the Texas Scottish Festival & Highland Games in May, the South St. Art Festival in September and the Christkindl German holiday market in November/December. And of course there's the great Indoor Air Conditioning Festival, which takes place absolutely everywhere from June through August.
5. Lake Arlington May Be Manmade, But Was Filled By Act Of God
Lake Arlington, a lake constructed in 1958, was expected to take two years to reach its full capacity of 15 billion gallons...
Shortly after completion of the dam that created the lake, the rain started to fall. And fall, and fall, and fall. In 27 days, voila: One instant lake. Although the lake's long outgrown its original purpose of supplying drinking water, it's still full enough to support recreational boating and fishing for bass, catfish and crappie.
6. GM's Arlington Plant Still Makes Genuine American Steel
Detroit may hitting a rough patch, but GM's Arlington Assembly Plant has been going strong for 60-plus years and shows no sign of stopping.
What's more, this Texan plant doesn't produce wimpy compact cars, no sirree! The vehicles manufactured here are good ol’ All-American gas guzzlers such as the Tahoe, the Suburban, the Yukon and the Cadillac Escalade.
7. Everything's Bigger At AT&T Stadium
Seriously, the Jerry Dome, aka “Death Star”, is pretty freakin' huge. It's about 15 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty, spreads out over some three million square feet and is visible from the highway five miles away.
8. Nobody Makes A More Impressive Hot Dog Than The Globe Life Park
Yep, everything's bigger in Texas, so of course the Rangers have to offer baseball's largest hotdog. The two foot-long Boomstick is an all-beef dog smothered in nacho cheese, chili, jalapenos and onions. The whole mess, stuffed into a gargantuan potato roll, weighs about 3 lbs. and can feed a family of four, or one oilfield roughneck.
9. Arlingtonians Really Are Smarter Than Anyone Else
Why else would MENSA choose to have its U.S. headquarters here? I mean, you know, they're all brainiacs, so they're smart enough to pick the best possible place, and they chose Arlington. And who am I to argue? Certainly not with these rocket scientists and brain surgeons.
10. Arlington's Mayor Deserves To Feel Cocky
While Robert Cluck may be saddled with a somewhat unfortunate name, and was undoubtedly the butt of many chicken-related jokes in his, er, fledgling years, he nevertheless got to bring home one of the coveted “Most Livable City” awards from this year's U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting. Now that's something to crow about!
11. Chop House Burgers Will Make You Forget All About, Uh, Whatsitsnameburger
These mouth-watering burgers are anything but fast food, Instead, they're the signature creations of four-star chef Kenny Mills, formerly of several high-end steakhouses such as Dallas Chop House, Sullivan’s Steakhouse and Capital Grille.
Where else are you gonna get a burger made with ground brisket or one topped with 10 different kinds of peppers? These burgers are a must try, even if you do have to stand in line behind all the food critics who can't seem to stop raving about the place.
12. UTA Provides A Cultural Hub For Arlington
The University of Texas-Arlington is ranked as one of the nation's most diverse college campuses, with students from 123 different nations as well as from every state in the union. No, they don't put on blue helmets and go out to enforce world peace, but they do practice international cooperation in over 300 student organizations.
13. Mavericks May Be Serious About Their Studies, But When They Let Their Hair Down Things Can Get A Little Wacky
One of UTA's most beloved traditions is the annual game of Oozeball, which is kind of like a cross between volleyball and mud wrestling. What could possibly be more fun than that? Well, there's always the UTA Bed Races, just about the best time you can have in, on or around a bed—with all your clothes on.
14. These UTA Alums Are Chillin' With Cellos
Actually only five out of the six members of the 440 Alliance are UTA grads—they do have one University of North Texas alum, but he did at least graduate from Arlington High School so I guess he gets a pass on this. Anyway, these Arlingtonians are on a mission to prove that the cello really rocks, and have released several albums with cello covers of such songs as “Stairway to Heaven,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Livin' On A Prayer,” and “Don't Stop Believin'.”
15. Ride For Dime Remembers A Fallen Metalhead
Cellos are cool and all, but they're not really metal. Now Pantera, they were metal as metal gets, right up to the tragic death of guitarist Dimebag Darrell. He was gunned down by a crazy fan during a 2004 concert, but Arlington remembers its native headbanger each year with a two-day motorcycle rally.
16. They Take Their Ballpark Food Very Seriously ’Round These Parts
Yes, it's true, Arlington Stadium, home of the Rangers from '72 through '93, was the very first stadium to come up with the genius idea of pouring neon orange goo on top of a huge pile of tortilla chips. Mmmmm.
And thats not all, you can also get a potato-based poutine nachos and a two-foot long taco/nacho combo called the “Tanaco.” Because... of course you can.
17. In Arlington, Beef Is Always What's For Dinner
This did use to be ranch land, after all, and you're still not too far from prime cattle country, so at least your steak didn't have far to walk. Texas Land and Cattle and The Keg are two of Arlington's best steakhouses, but if it's smoked brisket or ribs you're craving, you can't do better than David's Barbeque.
18. Sprout's Spring's Super Bowl Challenge Ain't For Amateurs
Win or lose, consuming 5 lbs. of pho in under 30 minutes has got to have some, um, unpleasant repercussions. Sure, Adam Richman of “Man vs. Food” was able to complete the Super Bowl Challenge at Sprout's Spring Roll and Pho Restaurant, but that's kind of his day job, after all. In case you're not up to consuming such a pho-king big bowl, feel free to take your time savoring one of the super-yummy regular sized bowls.
19. Arlington's Meals On Wheels Make Mighty Fine Eatin'
Arlingtonians have totally caught the food truck fever—and who wouldn't, with such amazing offerings as gourmet pizza from Dough Boys, mouthwatering meat pies from The Great Australian and any way you want 'em hot links, polish sausages and brats from Eat Jo Dawgs?
20. The Original Six Flags Is The Best Six Flags
No doubt the words “Six Flags” summon up childhood memories roller coasters, funnel cake and summer vacations. Well it all started in Arlington, which is the location of the very first Six Flags the first theme park.
21. Arlington Is A City Of King Pins
Arlingtonians love them some bowling, so much so, in fact, that the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame and the Bowling International Training and Research Center are both located here. What's more, should bowling ever achieve recognition as an Olympic sport (stranger things have happened, you know), Arlington's pretty much a shoo-in for the official U.S. training venue.
22. Arlington's Not Embarrassed To Have Gas
While oil may be king in the rest of Texas, the Arlington area is rich in natural gas deposits. In addition to producing prodigious amounts of gas, Arlington is also a big gas user, with a number of city vehicles designed to operate on compressed natural gas.
23. If Your Car Breaks Down, Better Saddle Up
OK, so Arlington does have a few flaws, first and foremost among them being the fact that it has the dubious distinction of being the largest city in U.S. without much in the way of a public transport system. They are, however, taking steps toward changing that, with the Metro Arlington Express pilot bus program. Its still in the introductory stages, but if enough people pony up for a $5 day pass this year, the bus system may become a permanent deal.
24. Screaming Bridge Will Scare Your Pants Off
Seems like every town's got its designated spooky spot, but Arlington's Screaming Bridge has a more horrendous history than most. It seems this bridge, which spanned a creek running parallel to railroad tracks, had been the site of numerous vehicle fatalities through the years. The main screamers are said to be the ghosts of six girls killed in a 1961 wreck, but the death toll continued to mount for another 30 years until that entire stretch of road was closed after a fatal 1994 accident in which two more women were hit by an oncoming train. Yikes.
25. Whatever Archosaurs Are, Arlington's Got 'Em
Actually, Arlington Archosaurs sounds like a pretty good name for a sports team of some sort. The Arlington Archosaur site, however, is a place where UT-Arlington students and others have been discovering dinosaur fossils over the past decade or so. No T-Rexes to date, but they did dig up the skeleton of a duck billed dino who'd probably make a great team mascot.
What you love about living in Arlington? Tell us in the comments below! 
